Beaten and Braved
by LadyPassionofHate
Summary: Sakura had to leave, she couldn't take it anymore. Being found by him was the best thing that could've happened to her. ItaSaku. Rating may change
1. Prologue: Beaten

She wept, heart breaking all over again as she sat in her room.

Fear soon gripped her chest when she heard heavy, uneven footsteps and she quickly wiped her tears away, hoping _he_ wouldn't notice the puffy redness surrounding her eyes.

The door burst open, nary a warning, and the man looked down at her in disgust, like she was the one thing in this world that could make him hurl with just a glance.

"You've been crying over him again, haven't you?" His voice was like ice, slightly slurred, and when she didn't answer he roughly grabbed her waist length hair and lifted her to her feet. He brought her face to his, noses nearly touching, and he growled in agitation. "You fucking bitch. I told you to forget about him. He'll never love you." His breath was warm on her face, but it reeked horridly of alcohol, causing her to cringe away from him.

"I-I'm sorry." She stuttered out, her voice barely a whisper.

He threw her to the floor and kicked her in the stomach, her retch only egging him on. She could feel the bruises forming from the manhandling.

He grabbed one of the kunai that sat displayed on her dresser as a decoration and once again lifted her by her hair. She had gotten the knives as a gift from her teammates for her birthday the year before.  
They had gotten her name engraved into the handles, and surrounding it was a sakura petal design.  
He slowly drew the ornamental weapons across her face and uncovered arms, leaving a thin trail of crimson blood. Carving the word 'forget' into her right arm was the last thing he did. The force in which he did almost making her cry out, but she knew that would only cause him to continue.

He dropped her shaking body to the floor, watching as her blood began to soak into the tatami covered floor.

"You will forget him." He ground out, holding back his anger when he heard her sob. Sneering he left the room, dropping the kunai and stumbling back to the living room. "And don't forget to clean the blood, you ugly fucking whore."

The girl waited for the click of his door shutting before sitting up and healing her self, not allowing a mark to escape her view, not wanting any scars to mar her milky skin.  
She then picked up her kunai and calmly wiped it off on her red cheongsam style dress. Picking up its mate, she set them on her bed and went about her room, collecting clothes and scrolls, medicines and weapons. She grabbed her pack and shoved most of her items into it, while the important things, like her money, were sealed safely into scrolled and placed into the small bag attached to her hip.

Strapping on her weapons pouch and slipping on her shoes, she fished out a piece of paper and a pen, writing a short note before jumping out her window and silently stealing into the night.

* * *

Naruto awoke to find a small note sitting on his bedside table, carefully folded. He picked it up, bleary eyed, to read it, thinking it was a stupid note from Kakashi about training, but he was soon fully awake, dressing and slipping on shoes before rushing out the door, note forgotten on his bed.

-x-

_Naruto,_

_I'm sorry, but I couldn't take it anymore. Please forgive me and don't try to find me.  
Tell everyone I'll miss them._

_I love you,  
Sakura._

* * *

**Prologue! New story, PLEASE read and review, CONSTRUCTIVE criticism wanted.**


	2. Found

A dark figure wandered through the woods, slowly approaching the figure that had fallen to the ground on his property. He had sensed its presence as soon as it passed the chakra barrier he had placed around his land to warn him of the coming of people, friend or foe.

It had been nearly a year since Uchiha Itachi faked his own death, and in all that time, this was the first ninja that had passed through the village he lived in.  
He now resided in Tea Country, in a small village in the South-West coast. Okiai rested about four hundred miles away from Port City, and many venders passed through the town on their way down to the ports, selling some of their goods to the town's people. One of the vendors supplied Itachi with the newest bingo books, no questions asked, simply thinking he was a retired shinobi wishing to know if his old comrades were still alive.  
His appearance hadn't changed much, but he no longer wore his hitai-ate or Akatsuki cloak and stirrup, and he kept his hair a bit shorter then he had before. The villagers didn't know who he was, for they didn't care about what went on in the ninja world, just as long as they weren't pulled into it.

Itachi looked upon the collapsed figure, he had a feeling he knew this girl. She wore a red cheongsam with tight black shorts underneath. Her hair was a bright cotton candy pink and it fanned out around her head, blocking any view of her facial features. On her back was a ninja pack he recognized as the standard bag used in Konoha. She had fallen face first and, after a quick look over with the sharingan, appeared to be suffering from severe chakra depletion.

The Uchiha carefully took off her bag and put it on before rolling her over and carrying her back to his house bridal-style. As he carried her, he noticed that she wasn't wearing a leaf hitai-ate, though all the signs said she was from Konohagakure. He also studied her face, running it through his memory archives. Small nose, pink hair, plump lips. By her body shape, she seemed to be around nineteen or twenty years old, but with the face she seemed younger, more like seventeen or eighteen. Oh how he hated women and their ability to have sexy curves with a cute face and still be able to look fantastic with the mix-matched features.

He opened the door to his small home, shutting it behind him quietly before continuing to his room and setting the girl on the bed. He took off her sandals before pulling the covers over her and placing her bag against the wall near the door, leaving to the kitchen.

Opening a drawer, he pulled out the newest version of the bingo book and began to scan through the section that had all the leaf shinobi. He found her picture and sat down, beginning to read her stats.

'_Ah, Haruno Sakura. She was on the same genin team as my otouto and the Kyuubi jinjuriki.'_ He thought back to the time when she had met up with his fake, about one and a half years ago. She did almost nothing but stand there and talk, only helping to free the Kyuubi jinjuriki from his genjutsu. She seemed to have grown, being labeled as S-class was no easy feat. _'But,'_ He thought, recalling a memory. _'That might just be because she helped kill Sasori.'_

He set the book down and went up stairs, having found the girl posed no threat whatsoever, not like she was in the first place, checking on her to see if she'd woken up yet.

To an untrained person, she would appear to be asleep, breathing slow and steady, eyes closed. But he could see the tension in her upper body, the muscles the slightest bit too taut for her to be unconscious.

"I wouldn't attack if I were you." The young girls' body tensed even more when she heard the velvety monotone voice. "You have no idea who you're up against, _Haruno Sakura_."

Her dull emerald eyes opened slowly and she tried sit up. The pinkette struggled to get up right and see who had brought her to the room she was in, and more importantly, to find out where she was.  
As she finally go up and leaned against the headboard, she attempted to survey the man in front of her, but his features were blurred, her eyes unfocused and lashes sanded with sleep.

"Who are you and w-where am I?" Her voice was filled with suspicion and worry, her fist rising to her eyes to wipe away the sleep and to try and get them focusing properly.

"You will find out who I am in time, but as for where you are, my home in Okiai, Tea Country." At this Sakura seemed to calm down, her body and posture relaxing the slightest bit. "You should go back to sleep, your chakra levels are extremely low. We can continue this conversation later." With that Itachi left the room, closing the door behind him silently.

The young woman slowly lay back down and let her eyes fall shut. She had escaped home, her town and even her country and survived to make it far into Tea without being caught, she was even lucky enough to be found by a nice man.

One last thought came to mind before she passed out, being forgotten in her sweet, deep slumber.

'_How did he know my name?'_

* * *

Thick lashes fluttered open, sleep falling off, showing bright green eyes.

She sat up quickly, forgetting where she was, causing her head to swim and vision to tunnel for a few seconds before regaining focus and balance, her memory catching up soon after.

'_I should thank him.'_ She thought, leaving the warmth of the covers and placing her feet onto the cool floor. Her body ached, but it was less then it should of, and looking down at her body, she saw that her wounds had been cleaned and bandaged.

Sakura surveyed the room, her eyes roaming over a dresser, wardrobe, desk and a bedside table; noting that her pack was on the floor beside the bed. She opened it and shifted through its contents, pulling out fresh clothes and changing into them, throwing the ones she had been wearing into the garbage can near the room's desk. She now wore a simple pair of loose black capris and a crimson tee-shirt.

Opening the door and stepping out, the pinkette tip-toed down the stairs and into what appeared to be a living room. The blinds were shut, but light still shone through, telling her it was sometime in the day, allowing her to relax and not fear waking the man that saved her.

"I see you're awake and well." A deep, velvety voice commented from behind her, causing her to jump and spin around quickly, almost smashing her face into his chest.

The girl blushed at her jumpiness and looked up at the man, opening her mouth to thank him for saving her when she saw who it was.

'_Uchiha Itachi.'_

She jumped backwards, instantly falling into a defensive crouch, arms pulled back and hands in fists, chakra charging. She was ready for an attack, but not what happened next.

"Haruno-san," He sighed in mild irritation. "I'm not going to hurt or kill you. What would be the point of bandaging you up and helping you if that's what I wanted?"

The girl pursed her lips in mistrust, but stood up properly and let her hands loose.

"Why did you save me? Why aren't you dead?" She shot out the questions, her mind finally catching up to her.

"Why don't you sit and I'll answer your questions over a cup of tea?" The raven haired man gestured towards a kotatsu. The pinkette huffed in frustration, but sat at the small table anyway.

Itachi returned a few minutes later with a tray, a tea kettle and cups. He sat and poured himself and Sakura a glass of the limpid green liquid, its smell taunting the girl into taking a sip. The man studied her as she closed her eyes and blew out in satisfaction of the warm beverage.

Her eyes opened and looked directly into his. "Answer my questions."

"Why shouldn't I save a dying person? And I'm not dead because I never died." He shrugged.

She growled at him. "You didn't have to save me. And Sasuke was supposed to have killed you and no one was ever able to say otherwise."

"I do things because I want to. And my otouto needs to learn to check if his supposed victim is dead before he leaves, instead of just leaving without a second thought."

"Why should someone like _you_ save another human? You seemed to have no issue killing almost all your family." She snapped out, Itachi was beginning to get on her nerves by dodging her questions.

An icy flash of anger passed through his eyes. "You don't even know what you're talking about, _shoujo_."

"I am not a little girl, and I know exactly what I'm talking about. I know that it was a mission. That doesn't change the fact that you killed your family." She shot back.

"I think you should be thankful, shoujo. I saved you from death or a life of sorrow by becoming a 'traitor'."

"No one was able to save me from a life of sorrow. This time, Uchiha," His name was said with distaste. "_You _are the one who doesn't know what you're talking about."

"Care to clarify?" The tables had turned, now Itachi was the one asking the questions.

"I'd rather not." She stood abruptly. "Thank-you for the tea. I'm going back to the room I slept in to finish healing and recharge my chakra."

The eldest Uchiha watched the girl storm off, his eyes showing his amusement. He almost hated to admit it, but she was undeniably the most interesting thing that had happened upon him since 'dying'.

* * *

**Chapter one is done! Chapter two is being written, but I have no idea when it'll be done. Please read and review.**


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